Class Reflection September 25 2008

I think that Kaleigh beautifully and eloquently summarized the important aspects of our last class. Although I consistently make decisions pertaining to the colors of the clothing I am wearing, I haven’t spent much time examining color in the context of architecture. Like much of what we learn, Viake’s lecture opened by eyes to the complexity and history behind different colors. However, what I found most fascinating is color’s ability to evoke the similar emotion, or represent the same experience for many different people across different cultures.

Jae’s lecture on thermal energy was very interesting as well. Much like designing for the individual and the body, designing for thermal comfort is also important, especially a frigid climate like Winnipeg. I don’t think that I am alone in constantly feeling sweltering hot in studio and our other classes, but I know that a time will come where I will be feeling cold. I feel that finding ways to create rooms that harness the thermal energy that is being expended by its’ inhabitants, and store that energy until it is needed, is something that will soon be examined within design. Perhaps Jae’s lecture today was meant to stimulate those thoughts, if so I would say that it did the trick quite nicely.

Class Reflection September 25

This lecture revealed the complex nature of colour. Human systems incorporate colour through cultural, architectural, and personal relationships. Colour is also deeply tied to natural systems, whose landscapes we borrow for inspiration in our built environments. Vaike gave a history of several colours including ochre, which aboriginals in western Australia believed represented ancestors who rose out of the mud at the beginning of time. The dies for this ochre literally came from natural elements while the mythologies behind the colour were also tied to natural systems. The human aura demonstrates the connection between human physical and emotional relationships to colour. This lecture made me aware of the interrelationship between human and natural systems and colour, which should be considered in our designs.

Reflections for September 25th Class

The first part of the class on colours was definitely a new scope of the built environment I never really thought of. It makes sense that because different colours of light contain different amounts of energy it would definitely have varying physical effects on a person. Exploring the origins of colour was a part of the lecture I really enjoyed. We have every colour imaginable at our disposal today that we really take for granted. It's amazing to see how people actually farmed for colour and many of them were considered rare resources at the time. The second part of the lecture was equally eye opening on the subject matter of energy. Although my grasp of the terminology is still not fully there, I think it is important that we are exposed  to it early on in our learning careers.

Class Reflection: September 25th

This weeks class was lectured by Vaike. She discussed colours and their effects on people, and how they affect us in the built environment. I had a great deal of interest in the subject previously, so I found this lecture especially interesting. I had a slight amount of knowledge in the subject from a book I own, but the physical origin of where colours are naturally derived from is something new to me. It is so interesting how much history our everyday objects actually have. For example graphite,was originally discovered in the UK in 1565. The mine was overtaken by a copper mining production. Later, in 1847, a new and enormous graphite deposit was discovered close to China just as the first mine was running out. The emperors of China thus had control of the industry. They also wore yellow robes, which is the reason why we still have golden yellow pencils today! I will forever wait for a Trivial Pursuit question on this.
One thing that really surprised me, yet now seems so blatnatly obvious is the use of colour depending on where you are in the world. Vaike's example of colours used in Nordic areas, while working so well in that region, would appear dull in southern regions. It is perfectly obvious, yet something most of us surely do not pick up on.
My interest in the use of colour is what drives me towards interior design as a focus in this faculty. I have always been drawn to colour, and lots of it, and feel I am mildly in tune with the oras they produce. I enjoyed the assignment she had us do on meditating on specific colors. I was surprised that meditating on purple, gave a reaction that seemed a mixture of my feelings experienced from blue and red.... which makes purple. It really goes to show how complex colours and their uses really are!

September 25th Class Refection, Topics: Colour and Light, Thermal Energy

Our third class began with an introduction to colour and light with guest speaker Vaike Ruus. She spoke of the origins and cultural significance as well as the composition of different colours. She touched briefly on colour fundamentals, the colour spectrum, relationships between colours as presented in the different colour wheels and the two scales: value and intensity.

Vaike then brought our attention to the elements of colour in architecture, describing it as a sort of language, a story that, oddly enough has less to do with the aesthetics of architecture than one might think. Colour can express an atmosphere, a specific geographical location, a rich cultural history, as well as pure human emotion.
Since light varies in different parts of the world, in turn, so does the colour that one would consider unique to these places. How a sky can morph from place to place is something I find so intriguing. That in combination with the distinct soils and vegetation of an area can create the most beautiful palettes. The colour then found in the architecture functions in unison with the colour of the region as they play off and reflect into one another. This is why we find distinctions in light and the associated colours in Northern, Mexican and Mediterranean regions, for example. Vibrant splashes of pinks and oranges and cobalt blues are visually pleasing colours set against the backdrop of a dry, Mexican landscape. In Northern light, colours like deep matte blues, soft yellows and pinks compliment their cool skies. The unity of the natural world and the built environment in this way only reassures me that although it may not in a technical sense be “green” architecture, it is an expression of the organic world through architecture. Yet, despite this, I am going to be stubborn and say that I strongly believe the natural landscape will always be much greater than anything else we decide to force upon it.

Jae-Sung continued the second half of the class with a lecture pertaining to thermal energy. He opened our minds to the usefulness of energy and how it is essential in creating sustainable architecture. He encouraged us to think of the human comfort level and to explore how far that notion could be stressed. It was amazing to see the amount of information needed to create a flawlessly comfortable environment.
I think the most valuable lesson taken from this class was that, as designers, we must always be mindful of our parameters, be critical of design and pro-active towards the issues that are most important to us. Functionality, sustainability and beauty can co-exist in the design world. It is this hybridization that will lead us to be most successful in the future.